N Korean refugees arrive in Seoul

Twenty-eight North Korean asylum-seekers have arrived in Seoul from China - the first large group of such refugees to be allowed to leave China this year.

They took refuge in the South Korean embassy in Beijing late last year.

But another group of 48 North Koreans, trying to leave China by boat for South Korea, was detained by the Chinese authorities earlier this month, along with a South Korean freelance photojournalist, Seok Jae-hyun.

Mr Seok's wife said in South Korea that he had been wrongly accused by the Chinese authorities of human trafficking, and she appealed for his release.

China has an agreement with North Korea to repatriate illegal migrants, but in the face of international criticism it allowed several groups who took refuge in diplomatic compounds to travel on to South Korea last year.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service